Dr Abdullahi Gandjue, Governor of Kano State, directed the acting Chairman of the Kano State Consumer Protection Council, Dr Baffa Babba Dan’agundi, to close Wellcare Supermarket on Sunday.
Following the management of the aforementioned supermarket’s refusal to continue accepting old naira notes from customers despite the state government’s order to do so, the store was forced to close.
The supermarket was shut down shortly after, and the council chairman announced that the management would face legal repercussions.
He issued a warning to other marketers in Kano, informing them that the state government has not outlawed the use of old naira notes as legal tender and that any shop owner caught refusing to accept the old notes would face severe legal repercussions.
Meanwhile, the management of Wellcare Alliance Limited has forwarded an apology letter to Governor Ganduje, seeking his immediate intervention to re-open the supermarket.
The letter was titled, “A plea for an immediate intervention to re-open Wellcare Alliance Limited and an apology letter.”
“Sir, Wellcare has always had an outstanding reputation in the market within the state and beyond, equally has abided by every rules and regulation which directly affects the company or a regulator without hesitation.
“Due to the Federal Government’s policy on the new naira notes, we gave wrong instructions to our staff members that from February 10, 2023, only the new notes are to be in circulation, and on an expansive investigation with our bankers, they declined to receive old naira notes,” the letter partly read.
The supermarket management pleaded with the Kano government that “our business should be re-opened for deserving members of the public as we undertake to receive the old notes as valid tender to when the state issues any other directive.”